Welcome, blogospheroids, to the Quotes and Notes Corner. I will be using this space to present interesting
Would it be fair to assume that Fatah's "first military operation" was against Egypt or Jordan?
historical and current items for you to clip 'n save. I hope it will be valued by my fellow news junkies, by history buffs, or by intellectual warriors in search of deadly ammunition.

For the first Quotes and Notes Corner in history, I'd like to quote from the official Fatah website - yes, nowadays, all the best terrorist groups have to have a website, too. If Arafat were still alive, he'd have a Facebook entry and a MySpace video ("Shout out to all the jihadeeeeeeeez! Whassup?")

In any case, in December of 2001, Fatah published an editorial marking the 37th anniversary of its first terrorist act (on January 1, the group claimed credit for a December attack). Fatah was founded, according to the editorial, "in 1957 when it issued its first statement calling for military struggle. In the period 1959 to 1964, Fateh published a magazine called Our Palestine. Eight years of organizing, recruiting, and raising awareness preceded the first military operation. The military wing of Fateh issued its first statement on January 1st, 1965."
 
Since from 1957 until 1967 Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank") were under Jordanian rule and Gaza was under Egyptian rule, and since Fatah of 2008 claims to want a Palestinian State (only) in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, would it be fair to assume that Fatah's "first military operation" was against Egypt or Jordan?
 
PLO Charter Rejects PLO Claim to West Bank and Gaza
Oops. The first, 1964 edition of the covenant of the Fatah-controlled PLO (a.k.a. the Palestinian National Charter) stated, in Article 24, "This Organization does not exercise any territorial sovereignty over the West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, on the Gaza Strip or in the Himmah Area."

Of course, that historic first attack in 1964 and most (but far from all) subsequent attacks by Fatah and the PLO
What is this Palestinian State for, in the eyes of Fatah?
were on Israeli and Jewish targets. And the ostensible goal of all those attacks - a goal now agreed to by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and by US President George Bush and by most of the rest of the world - has been (supposedly) the creation of a Palestinian State in... the "West Bank" and Gaza.
 
A Palestinian State is 'the Most Important Weapon' Against Israel
And what is this Palestinian State for, in the eyes of Fatah (currently headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and presented as a "moderate" alternative)?

According to their celebratory 2001 editorial, Fatah "believes that a legitimate Palestinian entity forms the most important weapon that Arabs have against Israel, the outpost of the imperialist powers."

Aha! Now THAT explains a lot.....

Sources:
Palestinian National Charter, 1964 edition: http://www.un.int/palestine/PLO/PNA2.html (last viewed June 26, 2008)

"The 37th Anniversary of Launching Fateh": http://www.fateh.net/e_editor/01/311201.htm (last viewed June 26, 2008)

Researched, compiled and presented by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz